As the 2020 MLB season is rapidly approaching, there are many questions as to how the regular season will shape up.
Will the reigning champion Washington Nationals repeat in 2020? Will Angels slugger Mike Trout win his 4th MVP in seven years? With all the high expectations on Gerrit Cole, will he win his first CY Young? Will Mets ace Jacob deGrom win this third consecutive CY Young? Will Cody Bellinger repeat his historic MVP season?
All these questions (and more) will be answered in the article below, so with that, here are my 2020 MLB Most Valuable Player and CY Young predictions.
American and National League Most Valuable Player
Let’s begin with the most coveted award out of them all, the MVP. Every great player strives for two things; win the World Series and win the MVP.
For the AL honor, I believe Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout will take home yet another MVP award after a fantastic campaign. Trout is certainly in the prime of his career and like a baseball glove, getting better every season. Trout, once considered the “Babe Ruth of our generation”, has delivered nothing short of that. In his nine-year career, he already has a higher WAR (Wins Above Replacement) than greats such as Derek Jeter, Barry Larkin and Carlos Beltran.
Although, Trout’s 2019 season was cut short due to injuries, I believe he will come back stronger and take some shiny hardware back to Anaheim. Mike Trout has garnered 3 MVPs in his 7 year career, and I see him adding one more to his resumé this season.
Moving on to the NL, Braves’ phenom Ronald Acuña Jr is my pick to win the MVP award. The youngster displayed his talents last season with a league leading 127 Runs and 37 stolen bases and as a result, was ultimately voted top 5 in the MVP ballot. Acuña operates in rarefied air with his offensive and defensive weapons.
The adept defender can track down any ball hit his way and can contribute to the Braves lineup with covering more angles than there are flags in a baseball stadium. No time is better for the rising Braves superstar to take home his first MVP.
American and National League CY Young
For pitchers in the Major leagues, there isn’t an MVP Award, but there is an equivalent: the CY Young Award.
The comfortable pick and clear favorite to win American League CY Young is none other than Gerrit Cole. Last season, Cole was absolutely dominant while completely embarrassing opposing batters. With the Astros, Cole tallied a 13.9 K/9, 326 Strikeouts, 20-5 record and a league leading 2.50 ERA. The former Astro recently signed a 9 year $324 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees. I, along the entire Yankee fanbase, expect Cole to pick up where he left off last season and bring the CY Young back to the Bronx (and maybe even a championship).
In the National League, some may think Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets will three-peat and win the CY Young for the third straight year. I, however, believe that he will be dethroned by the young pitching phenom, Walker Buehler of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Buehler, quite often gets overlooked behind stars like deGrom, Strasburg, Scherzer and even Flaherty but Buehler posted an impressive 3.26 ERA in 30 starts in 182 1/1 innings as a 24 year old in 2019. The phenom has one of the deepest weapon arsenals in the Major Leagues and has the tremendous potential this season to win his first CY Young. Buehler, Buehler, Buehler? Yes, yes and yes!
2020 is shaping up to be a really exciting season with some of the greatest baseball players of our generation contending for the various awards while trying to help their teams go all the way and win the big one! Only time will tell.
Photo: FTW! / USA Today
